The letter didn't leave Tia's mind all night.
By morning, he was already outside.
The air felt different today.
Every step he took felt heavier than the last.
He checked the folded letter in his pocket again.
The instructions were simple.
A place.
A time.
And one warning.
Slowly, the buildings vanished behind him.
The street became silent.
Few people.
Few cars.
Until finally, he stopped.
Tia clenched his fist slightly.
Then swallowed.
"So this is real…"
In front of him stood a massive structure.
A white gate.
One that refused to crumble.
Gates disappeared after being cleared.
Yet.
This one remained.
Silent.
Unmoving.
A man stood beside the entrance.
Black coat.
Calm eyes.
The kind of person who looked dangerous without trying.
"You received the letter?"
Tia handed it over.
The man skimmed through it.
"Good."
He folded it and slipped it into his coat.
"I'm Kun Yeon Lee."
"Your guide for today's raid."
Raid.
The word felt heavy.
Mr. Lee raised a finger.
"Three rules."
"First. I'll enter two hours after you."
"Second. Don't touch any crystals."
"Third. Don't use any artifacts."
Tia frowned.
"Why?"
For the first time, something flickered across Mr. Lee's face.
Not fear.
Worry.
The expression vanished almost immediately.
He opened his mouth to speak but words never came out.
"Just comply by the rules and forget about that".
Silence.
Tia stared.
Mr. Lee looked away.
"Just comply by the rules and focus on your task".
Slience.
"Here."
Mr lee held out two objects.
A knife.
And pen.
Tia looked puzzled
"Dungeons are unpredictable," Mr lee said.
The pen.
Click the top if you're in danger. It will send a signal."
Reluctantly tia took it.
A chill ran down Tia's spine.
This wasn't in the letter.
He looked at the White Gate again.
Then stepped forward.
And crossed the threshold.
******"
The dungeon was quiet.
Too quiet.
No monsters.
No corpses.
No signs of life.
Only crystal-lined walls stretching endlessly into the darkness.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then forty.
Nothing.
Tia began relaxing.
Maybe this really was just an abandoned dungeon.
'But why is it still standing'
Then he found the battle marks.
Deep grooves covered the stone floor.
Sword cuts.
Burn marks.
Fragments of shattered crystal.
Evidence of countless fights.
Yet there wasn't a single monster corpse in sight .
His steps slowed.
Before him stood the stone wall with no path further clearly he had reached the end of the
dungeon.
But.
Something felt wrong.
Too wrong.
Drip.
Tia froze.
The sound echoed through the tunnel.
A single drop of water.
Then another.
Drip.
The noise came from behind him.
His grip tightened around the knife.
I didn't hear that before.
Slowly, he turned.
The tunnel behind him looked different.
Tia blinked.
His heartbeat skipped.
A passageway had appeared.
A passageway that wasn't there before.
Cold sweat rolled down his neck.
"No..."
He clearly remembered this wall.
There had been no opening.
So where did it come from?
For several seconds, he stood frozen.
Then curiosity won.
And he stepped inside.
'I'll just check a little'
The crystals shi* brighter.
The air grew colder.
The silence heavier.
After ten minutes of walking, Tia noticed something strange.
The walls were covered in scratches.
Not of swords.
But.
Of Something else entirely.
Thousands of them.
Some shallow.
Some deep.
Tia stopped.
A terrible feeling settled in his chest.
Then he saw it.
A footprint.
His eyes widened.
"What kind of monster..."
SCRAAAPE.
The sound echoed ahead.
Tia froze.
SCRAAAPE.
Another sound echoed through the tunnel.
Like claws striking stone.
Something was moving.
Close.
Fast.
Very fast.
His breathing stopped.
The sound grew louder.
SCRAAAPE.
SCRAAAPEE.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Then —
He saw it.
two blood shot eyes appeared in the darkness.
Watching him.
Waiting.
A massive structure stepped into the crystal light.
Tia's eyes widened.
At first he thought it was a statue.
Then it moved.
Eight feet tall.
Its body was unnaturally thin.
Dark skin stretched tightly over protruding bones.
Long arms hung almost to its knees.
And its face...
Tia wished he hadn't looked.
Its mouth covered nearly half its face.
Rows of jagged teeth .
Layer upon layer.
A thick black tongue slowly slid between them.
Drip.
Venom struck the floor.
The stone hissed.
And melted.
[ Venomous Cave Devourer]
...
Tia's mind went blank.
The monster stared at him.
Then the corners of its jaws slowly opened.
As if smiling.
Then it lunged.
And Tia ran.
-------******
OUTSIDE THE GATE.
Mr. Lee checked the time again.
Two hours.
No signal.
No movement.
Nothing.
His expression darkened.
"He should have returned."
Something was wrong.
He stepped toward the gate.
BOOM!
An invisible force exploded outward.
He was thrown backward.
Blood trickled from his lips.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
The White Gate had rejected him.
Worse.
It's energy was increasing.
That had never happened before.
His hands trembled slightly.
He grabbed his communicator.
"Guide 103 reporting."
"This is an emergency."
"White Gate Zone B has become unstable."
"I repeat."
"The gate has become unstable."
"Copy.
CONTROL/MONITOR ROOM.
Alarms erupted throughout the facility.
Red lights flashed.
Technicians rushed between situations.
A woman stared at the main screen.
"Energy output rising."
Another technician looked up.
"Thirty percent increase."
"No—forty."
The room fell silent.
The chief researcher stepped forward.
His face turned pale.
"That's impossible."
The gate was classified as dormant.
Its energy levels should have been near zero.
Yet the readings kept climbing.
A new alert appeared.
WARNING.
UNIDENTIFIED ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED.
The room froze.
Unidentified ene?
One of the technicians swallowed.
"Sir..."
"We've never seen this pattern before."
The chief researcher stared at the screen.
A terrible feeling settled in his chest.
"Zoom in."
The image expanded.
Deep within the gate's core, another energy source had appeared.
One that wasn't recorded in any database.
His expression darkened.
"...Someone activated something."
Back In The Dungeon
Tia's face went pale.
The knife nearly slipped from his hand.
Every survival instinct screamed.
Run.
The monster tilted its head.
Then charged.
SCRAAAPE!!!
The tunnel shook.
Tia turned and ran.
The sound of clos scraped against the stone behind him.
Closer.
Closer.
Way too close.
"Why is it so fast?!"
His lungs burned.
His heart pounded wildly.
The creature crashed through crystal formations as if they weren't there.
Tia glanced back.
Big mistake.
The monster was right behind him.
Its horrifying mouth opened.
Wider.
Wider.
Far wider than should have been possible.
A black tongue shot forward.
Tia threw himself to the side.
CRASH!
The tongue slammed into the wall.
The walls exploded.
Fragments flew everywhere.
"What kind of low-level monster does that?!"
He stumbled to his feet.
Run.
Run.
Run.
Every instinct screamed at him.
Then his hand brushed against something in his pocket.
The pen.
Tia froze.
Mr. Lee's signal pen.
One click.
That's all it would take.
Help would come.
The test would end.
He would live.
Tia stared at it.
The monster slowly approached.
Its bloody eyes never left him.
The pen felt heavy.
Just like the weakness he had hated fifty years ago.
His thumb rested on the button.
Just press it.
No regret.
Just survive.
Yet another voice echoed inside his head.
The same voice that had followed him ever since his awakening failed.
Weak.
His jaw tightened.
The thumb moved away from the button.
"No."
Tia swallowed.
legs shaking.
hands shaking.
Everything inside him wanted to run.
Yet he raised the knife.
Slowly.
"If I take another step..."
His voice trembled.
"It's either my beginning..."
The creature growled.
Tia tightened his grip.
"Or...my end."
The monster screeched.
The tunnel trembled.
And then—
It lunged.
Straight for his throat.